Spello

Our excursion to Spello was one of the most memorable, most culturally immersive experiences I had during my time with the Whites. Spello is a small Umbrian hill town, known for its Roman walls but especially its annual Infiorate, a festival of flowers held on the Feast of Corpus Christi. Each June, residents and volunteers spend the night before carefully plucking petals from thousands of flowers and arranging them into breathtaking carpets and murals that line the streets.

My third weekend in Italy, we traveled to Spello and booked an Airbnb so we could help partake in the festivities. The night before the festival, we joined locals in sorting petals by color and preparing them for the designs. I met so many kind people who were curious about my story and studies, and it felt like a genuine exchange of cultures. Work continued through the night, and by morning the streets had transformed into living works of art. Italians from all over flood the town to admire the displays, and being a small part of that tradition remains one of the most vivid highlights of my time abroad.